ThinkingBlue

Yes, there are two Americas’ Virginia, they exist as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist. One tolerant and broadminded, the other intolerant and narrow-minded!
Sincerely, thinkingblue, from the TOLERANT AND BROADMINDED USA
PS: Joe (You Lie) Wilson, et al reside in the other America!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

thinkingblue says: If anyone can put a pen to the Catholic Church leaders' (especially the Pope) atrocious oath of silence, to not expose the (PEDOPHILIA) scourge, and in unequivocal language that leaves no latitude for rebuttal, John Cory can.

In this article (below) he tellsthe side of the victim; the young children who had no authority to go to, no protector to save them and no voice to tell about the silent suffering they had to tolerate during the dark minutes, hours, days of torment they endured while in their early years of life… (in HELL!)

Hell is a place, that the very institute of which their parents had thrust them into, to learn how to stay out of, when their lives on Earth had ceased (Catholic Belief System). Please read his words they will cause you to feel the pain of the victims, not the so called excuses from the perpetrators. The sorrow of this story is intense beyond words!

My views on child abuse and child molestation are harsh and unforgiving and forged by the fires of my own childhood. I give no quarter on this issue.

I have no kind words or forgiving thoughts for the Catholic hierarchy or their enablers, which brings me to Bill Donohue's article on the CNN Opinion web site. You can read what he says here but I'll give you my version:

Child abuse and molestation is bad but this stuff happened a long time ago and times were different then and besides everyone does it including churches, schools, businesses and even the Jews. This is all about picking on the Catholic Church for headlines.

Mr. Donohue - you are performing a cheap parlor trick of turning the Catholic Church into the victim here and frankly, it is disgusting. The victims are at the center of this issue, not you and your Catholic ego.

This is not an attack on the Catholic Church. It is about holding the men accountable who lead the Church. And that includes the Pope.

In the wonderful novel "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini, Baba tells his son Amir: "There is only one sin and that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth."

Men, not God, not Church, stole innocence and trust, privacy and possession of one's body and spirit. Can there be a more heinous crime?

While you dress your Cardinals and Pope in fine linens and moral rectitude, the molested cover themselves in revulsion and self-loathing believing they did something to cause this crime.

While you parade about with burning incense and wafers of contrition the raped and battered wander in doubt and confusion as to how God let this happen.

While you sprinkle the Water of Oblivion and chant sacred liturgies the true victims suffer the holy trinity of abuse, alienation and abandonment.

How dare you cloak the Church in victimhood.

Should the deaf children thank God that they were not able to hear their rapist's grunts and gasps of pleasure at defilement?

Should the molested thank God that they eventually became old enough to no longer be attractive to priests? Or should they have prayed for faster transfers?

Should the abused take comfort in the knowledge that it was only a few "bad apples" in the Church and they were just "unfortunate" to be among the chosen prey?

What you defend is not the Church but the silence of power, the sin of willful ignorance and the sin of omission by those who turned a blind eye to the torture and horror at the hands of God's devoted servants.

What you defend is the murder of the soul.

The first day of abuse becomes an eternity of pain and despair and night becomes a never-ending reel that assaults the senses. The smell and feel of sin forever burned into the brain haunting the heart and soul.

I don't know how to explain this horror in a way to make you understand.

I can tell you that abuse smells like Old Spice and Vaseline Hair Tonic wafting in the air with each blow. I can tell you that abuse tastes like oatmeal on a dishrag in my mouth to keep me from screaming. I can tell you that abuse burns like a tub of scalding water boiling away my sins and it stings like the slice of a knife to bleed out that evil blood inside of me. I can tell you that the sound of abuse is an icy echo: I'm only doing this because I love you. If you were good, you wouldn't make me do this.

There is not a bonfire in Hell big enough for the souls of these people to burn in as far as I am concerned. And the statute of limitations should match the term of punishment and damnation - eternity.

The perpetrators stole innocence and purity, trust and love, and beautiful childhood souls like they were nothing more than trinkets of idol pleasure.

But the greatest theft came from the Cardinals and Bishops and authorities. They stole in silence just like a thief in the night. They were soundless accomplices to the murder of souls.

They stole truth from those who needed its protection most. They stole the right to be heard and to be believed. They stole love and hope and the sanctity of the church.

They stole God.

To defend any of this is to steal the last vestige of dignity and honor and justice from those who deserve it most.

There is only one sin and that is theft.

Thou shalt not steal.

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I found this next article while searching this subject on the Internet. It is so good, I am printing it here in its entirety.

Pedophiles, who prefer child sexual partners within their own family, are said to be “INCESTUOUS”. From the Compton’s Encyclopedia: Pedophilia is the sexual abuse of children which often involves parents, siblings, or other family members in forbidden relationships--children are exposed to sensations and practices that they are not quite mature enough to understand. The types of abuse may range from fondling to rape, and kidnap victims are often molested before they are killed. Others may be the objects of pedophiles (adults who prefer child partners). Sexually abused children who try to break the pattern by running away may be lured into street crime or exploited in child prostitution and pornography rings. I believe publications) make light of this horrible, tragic, deviant sexual practice. Such attitudes are as if Pedophilia is so horrible, that it should be “swept under the rug” or better yet, not spoken about. Such is the power of important sexual deviants (high in church and political circles), as to make the subject taboo to the general public.There should always be grave concern about Pedophiles in our Society because it destroys the innocence of children; thereby negatively affecting their lives and of those of many other innocent people. I have written this paper in the hope of alerting more people to the problem, and its ramifications. Perhaps by opening a dialogue (blog- if you like) we may together find ways to help stem this cancer in our society and morality. Just who are Pedophiles?

1.PEDOPHILES are men / women who have strong sexual inclination (lust) toward boys, or girls. They believe there is nothing wrong with their sexual inclinations, and see them as normal, and feel misunderstood by Society (sort of like druggies). I have come to believe they are born this way (hardwired for children), and cannot be dissuaded or changed by persuasion, or the love of God.

2.PEDOPHILES are young adults, adult, middle-aged and old men (and women). They exist in all races and walks of life, poor, rich, uneducated, highly educated - it makes no difference! More often than not, they are very intelligent and cunning. They truly are the moral “wolves” in society, and have been so since time immemorial. Pedophile Clerics are truly:“wolves in sheep’s clothing”

3. PEDOPHILES often seek jobs, or professions, that will put them in close contact with young children (a pool of victims), and a position of authority, to facilitate carrying out their perverse designs and sexual fantasies. They may, or may not act out such fantasies, but they have a “deviant” mentality and perverse sexual fantasies

4. PEDOPHILES of the worst kind are INCESTUOUS FATHERS AND MOTHERS, because they irreversibly damage the psyche of their victims within their own family, often for many generations yet to come, and usually destroy family unity. AS SUCH PEDOPHILES ARE DESTRUCTIVE OF THE FAMILY AS THE NUCLEUS OF OUR SOCIETY AT LARGE.

5. PREDATORY PEDOPHILES ARE SOMETIMES willing to kill their victims to protect their own freedom to satisfy their sexual fantasies again. Clearly, THEY ARE THE MOST DANGEROUS KIND, and should be identified, and removed from society as soon as possible.

6. PEDOPHILES cannot be dissuaded or persuaded to change their sexual inclinations by Psychiatric therapy or by counseling intervention. Not even for the love or fear of God! The problem is, they do not acknowledge being deviant, or damaging to their victims - even when their victims are babies! Pedophiles are full of fantasies in which they see themselves as Teachers and Masters for a new generation. Damn! Please excuse my indignation. One avenue that has been used is chemical castration (periodic injections through court action), or the use of Anti-Depressants such as Zoloft, and other (SSRIs) - by counseling persuasion, since they greatly reduce sexual urge (libido). Wish we had a drug like it to reduce the addictive cravings of druggies.

8. PEDOPHILES are often aided and abetted by the silence of family members and others who know of their actions/inclinations. In most cases of incest, the mother knows, and keeps silence. Considering the consequences of her silence toward the family, she is equally guilty. No one who “Knows” should be silent! A mother’s prime directive as a parent, is to protect her children; not the reputation of an incestuous father – that, is his responsibility.

VICTIMS OF PEDOPHILES

1. GIRLS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF INCEST beginning in childhood will frequently suffer from frigidity (inability to have pleasurable intimate sexual relations with men) resulting from deep-seated feelings of guilt related to sex. Such women feel they must “submit to sex in marriage; this normally has a chilling effect on marital relations, since the husband may misconstrue the wife’s attitude for lack of love, or dissatisfaction with his sexual performance. Left unrecognized, this problem often results in divorce, and eventual breakup of the family. The victim strangely, usually has no memory of the events, let alone the cause of her problems (she thinks it is all natural, and every child’s experience) until late in life; Then, she begins to experience troubling Flashbacks about her childhood and realizes, at first with apprehension; then with disgust, and finally with anger, that she was abused as a child for the sexual gratification of a grownup in her family. Frequently, feelings of guilt and low self-esteem ensue; this can and should be treated by counseling to help the victim internalize the fact that she was a child victim of a Perverse Pedophile (one who acts out his sexual fantasies), through no fault of her own. Psychotherapy or counseling are lengthy, expensive, and (unfortunately) infrequently successful.

2. BOYS OR GIRLS WHO ARE SEDUCED INTO SEX ACTS by a pedophile, also suffer feelings of guilt and low self-esteem that can be highly self-destructive. Such feelings, if left untreated, can lead to promiscuity, prostitution, drug abuse, self-abuse, and even suicide; Victims should be treated by counseling to help the victim internalize the fact that he or she was a child victim of a pedophile, through no fault of hers. The most important things a caring parent can do, is to recognize the signs/symptoms of sexual abuse, seek treatment, and expose the pedophile. The signs and symptoms of sexual abuse in children need exploration, but often include: moroseness (quietness), sadness, desires to be alone, lack of playfulness, and distrust of adults.

WHAT CAN/SHOULD SOCIETY DO?

1. RECOGNIZE THAT THIS PROBLEM and its implications/ramifications, deeply affects our life and Society at large; hence the need to look for ways to combat the problem.

2. EDUCATE PARENTS about Pedophilia and its consequences, and how to teach their children regarding “Nasty” people.

3. EXPLORE WAYS to help individual victims.

4. EXPLORE WAYS to identify pedophiles during the hiring-in process for "child vulnerable" positions such as: teachers, school bus drivers, Boy Scout leaders, Clergy, Summer Camp Leaders, Day Care Center Workers, etc. This could be done by "peter-meter" devices, or by observing reaction to naked child photos/art. Employers often require drug use tests legally, don't they? It is time for preemptive action. Society cannot continue to allow "wolves/coyotes in the hen house". The toll in destroyed lives is too high! I look forward to your constructive suggestions: legal, legislative (at different levels of government) important hiring places, etc. to fight this worldwide scourge on Society

P.S. I am not looking for excuses/apologies from Pedophiles. I know they see themselves in a special light: “Nobody loves children the way we do”…We thank God for that!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

I am so glad that I have lived long enough to see health care become a right not a privilege. I spent my whole life experiencing the misery, people suffer living in a nation that does not believe it is responsible for its citizens' health care. Too many of us have suffered and died just because we were either born into or through no fault of our own, found ourselves in a low income status. I saw it happen in my own family; My mother who was age 56 when she died of cancer due to not having enough money to take advantage of our superb medical system. She was a nonentity and this happens to young and old. What a disgrace! Now at long last we have opened the door (albeit just a crack) to make health care in our country a right. Thank you President Barack Obama, you have done what no president before you could or even cared to do. I am sending a contribution of $25 to this cause and will wear the health care tee shirt that comes with that small offering, proudly. thinkingblue

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The New American Way - Blind Ignorance and Hate Filled Bigotry

March 20, 2010

Thom Hartmann Weighs In On Teabaggers' Scorn and Disrespect For Man With Parkinson's Disease

I stumbled upon the Thom Hartmann Show on Free Speech TV a few months back. Since I had heard of Mr. Hartmann on Air America but really never tuned in I allowed this channel to remain for awhile so I could see what Thom had to say. Ive been hooked ever since. Not in the sense that the followers of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are HOOKED by: Blind Ignorance and Hate Filled Bigotry; Im captivated by Thom Hartmanns ideas and beliefs because of my desire for knowledge. This man has so much knowledge you have to wonder how he can retain it all. He takes phone calls then supports the callers questions or statements with his voluminous experience and perception. Many times he will get a question or suggestion and you can almost see the wheels go to work inside his head, admitting he may not know too much on the subject but will look into it.

Hes also not afraid to admit hes wrong unlike the hate mongers on the right. The Becks and Limbaughs (et al) are so sure they know it ALL, they would never back down or act human with a simple I have no knowledge of that, or maybe a I will research that Not these right-wing-nuts, It's always I KNOW and YOU DON'T! jingle all the way.

If the right-winded jerks on the right just played their audience (for their listening and viewing pleasure) and that was all there was to it (Like an evening spent laughing at a comedian in some night club, then you go home) there would be no problem. But their devotees get so riled by the constant baneful and deadly rhetoric that spews from their TVs or radios that their newly found hatefulness spills out onto the streets and they group together and slap a label on themselves like TEABAGGER (thinking somehow they are aligning with the Boston Tea Party patriots). Now armed with this talk radio/ TV hatred theyre out for blood and anyone on the left is their target, whether it be a Parkinson diseased man or a small boy who just lost his mother to a disease because she had no health insurance. The rest is TEABAG history! thinkingblue aka thethinkingblue

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15 Executives Who Get Paid Millions To Deny You Health Care Coverage

The business model of American health insurers is basically: try to get healthy customers as clients, and then resist as long as possible when it comes to paying out claims.

Thats actually not an indictment or a criticism.

Its just the way our system works, and its screwed up.

Whatever you feel about Obamacare (HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM), you probably think our current system needs reform in some sense.

Limbaugh pulled something out of his BUTT...AGAIN! Now he's moving to Costa Rica

March 10, 2010

Hate radio host Rush Limbaugh has been one of health care reforms most vociferous opponents, warning that [h]uman beings will die earlier than normal under the freedom killing and life threatening ... Hate radio host Rush Limbaugh has been one of health care reforms most vociferous opponents, warning that [h]uman beings will die earlier than normal under the freedom killing and life threatening plan, and calling for it to be aborted. Yesterday, Limbaugh put his money where his mouth is, saying that if health care passes and all his fears are realized, hell leave the country: CALLER: If the health care bill passes, where would you go for health care yourself? And the second part of that is, what would happen to the doctors, do they have to participate in the federal program, or could they opt out of it? [...] LIMBAUGH: My guess in even in Canada and even in the UK, doctors have opted out. And once theyve opted, they cant see anybody Medicare, Medicaid, or what will become the exchanges. They have to have a clientele of private patients that will pay them a retainer and itll be a very small practice. I dont know if thats been outlawed in the Senate bill. I dont know. Ill just tell you this, if this passes and its five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. Ill go to Costa Rica.

Keith Olbermann's special comment of October 7 got personal. He experienced firsthand and personally the broken system we call Health Care. The difficulties he went through with his ailing Father were unexpected to Keith even though he was well aware of others' (especially those without insurance) suffering under this system. But he had money, isn't that enough in Capitalistic America to protect you from becoming a victim of the Health and Insurance Industrys gluttony?

Yes indeed, as Olbermann earnestly commented, money had saved his father from needless suffering and loss of dignity. This made Keith even more compassionate to the plight of those who have no leverage. His money did afford some of the best attention by medical personnel thus making him even more aware of, how those with no health insurance must endure the lack of self-respect to which a society without responsiveness will put them through.

Having empathy and concern for others can be a misfortune because there is so little one can do to help the forgotten ones. That's the way the Insurance Industry would like those who can't afford their high premiums to become... FORGOTTEN.

It's only people with a platform such as Mr. Olbermann, who can bring to light the outrageous greed in this country where bottom-line is more revered than humaneness. I guess if they could just get rid of those who can't line their pockets, they would do so but since we are a nation of laws all they can do is lie, mislead and spend exuberant amounts of money lobbying their status quo.

Thank all that is good, for Keith Olbermann, he is the guiding light to benevolent thinking of which we all, Conservatives and Liberals alike, can follow, if you happen to possess a heart. He truly is A VOICE OF REASON. thinkingblue

The video will give you some of the highlights of Keith Obermann's hour long commentary on Health Care Reform.

Florida Representative Alan Grayson speaks for all of us who believe the Republicans are only responsive to Corporate Interests. They have shown time and again that "We The People" do not matter. Our only function is to keep the corporate world lucrative. The Health Care Reform debacle has exposed their greed to everyone except those who follow their creed, those who have been indoctrinated to blindly accept anything they have to offer as genuine and in their best interests; no questions are allowed. I swear the Republican Party and Religion are one and the same. thinkingblue

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America - The Greatest Show On Earth

September 16, 2009

Bill Moyers offers a PULL NO PUNCHES explanation on why our country is... THE GREATEST "SHOW" ON EARTH.thinkingblue

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THE MOUNTAIN OF LIES

August 24, 2009

The debate over health care reform has gone viral. It's as though some kind of celestial dust has floated down from the furthest corners of outer-space and infected so many of our brains. When you see and hear people who look like you and talk somewhat like you go, completely berserk and make no-nada- squat sense at all, you want to scream at the top of your lungs "BEAM ME UP, SCOTTY, FAST!" and get transported to a safer more logical place.

But alas, that can only happen in science fiction (so far) and we are stuck here to share the breathing space with some pretty frightening characters, now called Townhallers. I went into the Urban Dictionary to see if this word has unofficially been dubbed a new urban utterance in our English Language and this is what I found:

Townhaller - One who is easily turned against the establishment through fear mongering and partisan rhetoric, who attends political gatherings not for the purpose of discussion, but disruption. Townhallers may become violent if discouraged from interrupting productive or informative debate and discussion. These townhallers will believe anything, as long as Sarah Palin posts it on her twitter feed. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define...

Hopefully, when a Health Care Reform Bill is eventually signed, we will all be able to calm down. That is until the Limbaugh's and Fox (YOU CALL THAT NEWS?) people churn up some other reason for their viewers/listeners to go bonkers and make total and complete asses out of themselves. Then a new urban word will appear to describe such people or events.

I put together this video to try and make sense out of the senselessness that is going on at the Town hall meetings to discuss Health Care Reform. Featuring Rachel Maddow's voice of reason. I swear if it weren't for people like Rachel we would all lose our minds. thethinkingblue

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Mobs, Bullies and Fascists 101

August 15, 2009

Rush Limbaugh is the personification of a bully and a tyrant. He incites people to form mobs and do his dictate. I hope everyone will someday realize that Rush Limbaugh is not to be respected he should not be worshiped but abandoned and scorned.

There is only one reason for the fomenting of hatred in the Rush Limbaugh world and that is to rake in the dough. And goddammit lots and lots of moola go into Limbaugh's back pockets. The reason for this, well it's not rocket science? The whatfor is all around us... It's because there are too many weak-minded people in our midst. They may work hard and try to play by the rules; the trouble is they are too willing to obey those who scare the BEJESUS out of them.

I admit life is an eerie and hair-raising experience. Theres danger and peril all around waiting to pounce on any innocent who happens to wonder by. But we can't live our lives in a constant state of fear. We must venture out and take our chances in order to survive.

The shock-jocks like Limbaugh are out there in the shadows of their microphones waiting to make an attack on the innate fears of the populous. They exaggerate, amplify, blow out of proportion and hyperbolize everything and I mean EVERYTHING that may cause apprehension amongst those who are unaware of what the radio host real motive is (make ada BIG BUCKS!). In other words they prey upon the gullible for gain.

I wish these vulnerable people could become informed the old fashion way by reading and inquiring the many information outlets available (legitimate newspapers and educational library books) but that's too difficult for them, plus they may be too worn-out from the hard lives they are forced to lead, due to lack of information and education. It's just too easy to click a knob on the old TV or radio and tune into the shows that dumb down their audiences. Also, the Limbaugh's give them a punching bag to direct their pant-up anger at. Its not only sad, its criminal. But we do live in a free country and because of that, we all possess the freedom to be irresponsible and that definitely is so irresponsible. Below is a video I made from the information I gathered from the Media Matters and Our Future websites. Thank goodness for sites like Media Matters and Our Future who inform and educate us on the misinformation floated out there by Right-Wing zealots who stand behind and protect big corporate interests. thinkingblue.blogspot.com

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Town Hall Madness

August 12, 2009

More Republican dittoheads sent out by their leaders (GOP, Limbaugh, Rightwing organizations and Fox News) to disrupt the town hall meetings on the health care debate.

This town hall madness does not make any sense at all. These people are an embarrassment to all America, acting like a bunch of undisciplined children. Displaying anger against something that is in their own best interest just for the spite of it and I will do anything within my power (making videos, giving a dollar a day to the cause and posting on facebook) to expose their insanity just like they will do anything to expose their hatred towards our ELECTED President.

Gun Toting Townhaller on Obama Route Calls For Blood

A gun toting and displaying man waiting on the route President Obama will be taking to a town hall is carrying a sign calling for blood.

The sign states:

"Time to Water the tree of Liberty."

That's what the sign says-- a fragment of a quote from Thomas Jefferson. The total quote reads,

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it's natural manure."

This was written in a letter from Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, November 13, 1787

The sign is clearly a reference to spilling blood. Tie that together with a gunman openly displaying his gun on the path President Obama will be taking to his town hall and you have to wonder about the local lawmen who are allowing this display.

Is this a test the NRA has put in place? Is it simply another ratcheting up of the tension and anger around health care? Is it simply a hyper-macho protester showing off his phallic symbol?

Gun rights do not extend to brandishing guns in the presence of the president. Any fool who choses to do so should lose his gun ownership privileges.

Rob Kall is executive editor, publisher and site architect of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, more...)

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GOP BIGOTRY 2009

August 10, 2009

Keith Olbermann's special comment discusses the bigotry that is coming from the GOP base and how they are capitalizing on it to stop Health Care Reform.

The Republican Party has been using mob scenes for some time now... There was the 2000 election when they brought in their thugs to stop the recount. Then again during election times, especially the McCain/Palin rallies. Mob mentality was in vogue during that conservative get-togetherness. Palin, along with her talk radio groupies would tell their base anything, short of go out and lynch the opposition, to rile their followers into a hateful bunch of bigots.

Now again, they are at it with their dusting off of the ugly mob crowds and sending them out to descend upon democratic town hall meetings. These people (MOBS) are blatantly hateful and law abiding citizens don't know what to make of their anger... and that's exactly how they win. So many people believe they are just a crazy fringe and laugh them off while they grow just like the movie blob and cover the land with gooey, sticky, nasty hostility...

The main problem with normal, regular people is, they don't realize how many stupid, crazy people live in this country... When one of the stupids get wind of what the other stupids are doing they jump out of their boring lives and join the mob band-wagon. I sure hope the DNC does not turn its head away from this GOP MOB ploy... these agitated nuts are out for blood.

Wow, Paul Krugman is another TELL IT LIKE IT IS... It's not health care reform these nutbags (as in teabag) are upset over... It's the fact that we have a black president... I'm telling you America's bigotry is alive and well. Here's the link to Paul Krugman's article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/07/opi... thinkingblue

What the hell is the problem here? Including a public option would save billions of dollars, but Congress cant come to an agreement? Do they think we're all stupid? Oh yes, right, it's better to be subjected to skyrocketing health care costs, driven by the high costs of administering private plans? Yup, no competition is what Democracy is all about.

I hope everyone will feel the passion and hop on board for your 04.16 cent 1000 mile ride to a more efficient Health Care Industry and one that matches the other industrialized nations who have less money than our America but have a Health Care System that puts ours to shame.

I just donated a dollar a day till health care reform gets passed. (Small price to pay for something so immensely important. Just one dollar in a 24 hour Earth rotation.)

(The circumference of the Earth at the equator is 25,000 miles. The Earth rotates in about 24 hours. Therefore, if you were to hang above the surface of the Earth at the equator without moving, you would see 25,000 miles pass by in 24 hours, at a speed of 25000/24 or just over 1000 miles per hour.) That's a little over 4 cents to travel over 1000 miles, in an hour. Pretty good bargain if you ask me. And if it shows the insatiably greedy insurance companies that "we the people" mean business and will not settle for anything less than a passage of a public option in this Health Care Reform, debate (and it will represent an even more cost efficient effect over the years of one's life

I am so dismayed by what is happening (or not happening) in ourcountry about health care reform. Hasn't this important issue saton the back burner for far too long? Single Payer Health Care(Medicare) is the only insurance program that can reach ALL THEPEOPLE not just the ones who were lucky enough to be born to afamily who could afford giving their offspring the tools to earna LIVING WAGE. These are hard times but for low income peoplethere is nothing new here. Hard Times is a lifestyle.

President Bush once told us we already have a form of socializedmedicine it's called the EMERGENCY ROOM. What a cruel and LET EMEAT CAKE statement that was. Exclusion from a decent life becauseyour income isn't enough to allow you the basic needs of lifeshould have been buried in the past long ago. Yet here we are2009 and there are many people, too many, who are deprived fromhaving the peace of mind knowing, they and their

families are covered in case of a real Emergency. Must I live therest of my days in a sad, angry state because I care about thosewho cant afford good health care? If we dont give a damn aboutour neighbors plight, we as a country will never survive; historyhas proved this over and over. Theres a Youtube entry that saysit all. Please Sign petition

I get so confused, I listen to the "R" pundits on TVand I think to myself... Why are people believing them? They makeno sense at all! I came across an article in Common Dreams andI've come to the conclusion that only a small percentage of the"R" people are listening and believing them. I feelbetter now. I just could not imagine that people were thatdelusional, not today after Obama's election. Why would ourfellow Americans go so totally against their own self-interest oragainst the interests of their peers when it makes so much senseto not only love thy neighbor but also help thy neighbor...? I'mtalking about single payer health insurance... That's rightMedicare for all who want it or more importantly Need it. Anyway,my apologies to the "R" people and thanks to thearticle entitled: Standing Against Single Payer

I stumbled upon the Thom Hartmann Show on Free Speech TV a few months back. Since I had heard of Mr. Hartmann on Air America but really never tuned in… I allowed this channel to remain for awhile so I could see what Thom had to say.

I’ve been hooked ever since. Not in the sense that the followers of Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh are HOOKED by: Blind Ignorance and Hate Filled Bigotry; I’m captivated by Thom Hartmann’s ideas and beliefs because of my desire for knowledge. This man has so much knowledge you have to wonder how he can retain it all. He takes phone calls then supports the callers’ questions or statements with his voluminous experience and perception. Many times he will get a question or suggestion and you can almost see the wheels go to work inside his head, admitting he may not know too much on the subject but will look into it.

He’s also not afraid to admit he’s wrong unlike the hate mongers on the right. The Becks and Limbaughs (et al) are so sure they know it ALL, they would never back down or act human with a simple “I have no knowledge of that”, or maybe a “I will research that” Not these right-wing-nuts, It’s always “I KNOW and YOU DON’T!” jingle all the way.

If the right-winded jerks on the right just played their audience (for their listening and viewing pleasure) and that was all there was to it… (Like an evening spent laughing at a comedian in some night club, then you go home) there would be no problem. But their devotees get so riled by the constant baneful and deadly rhetoric that spews from their TVs or radios that their newly found hatefulness spills out onto the streets and they group together and slap a label on themselves like… TEABAGGER (thinking somehow they are aligning with the Boston Tea Party patriots). Now armed with this talk radio/ TV hatred they’re out for blood and anyone on the left is their target, whether it be a Parkinson diseased man or a small boy who just lost his mother to a disease because she had no health insurance. The rest is TEABAG history! thinkingblue aka thethinkingblue

WASHINGTON – House Democrats heard it all Saturday— words of inspiration from President Barack Obama andraucous chants of protests from demonstrators. And at timesit was flat-out ugly, including some racial epithets aimed atblack members of Congress.

Most of the day's important work leading up to Sunday'shistoric vote on health care was being done behind closeddoors. Democratic leaders cajoled, bargained and did whatthey could to nail down the votes they will need to finallypush Obama's health care overhaul bill through the House.

But much else about the day was noisy, emotional and rightout in the open. After more than a year debating the capstoneof Obama's domestic agenda and just hours to go before theshowdown vote, there was little holding back.

The tone was set outside the Capitol. Clogging the sidewalksand streets of Capitol Hill were at least hundreds — noofficial estimate was yet available — of loud, furiousprotesters, many of them tea party opponents of the healthcare overhaul.

15 Executives Who Get Paid MillionsTo Deny You Health Care CoverageThe business model of American health insurers is basically: try to get healthy customers as clients, and then resist as long as possible when it comes to paying out claims.

That’s actually not an indictment or a criticism.

It’s just the way our system works, and its screwed up.

Whatever you feel about Obamacare (HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM), you probably think our current system needs reform in some sense.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Punscan make you laugh, puns can make you think and puns can make yougroan... Here's a few puns I've gathered from the Internet. Ihope they can make you laugh, think and groan up a storm.thinkingblue

Alfred Hitchcock on punsinterviewed by Dick Cavett in 1972

I thought I saw an eye doctor onan Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian

A rubber band pistol was confiscated fromalgebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

No matter how much you push the envelope, it'llstill be stationery.

A grenade thrown into a kitchen inFrance would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken toa hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how hewas, a nurse said 'No change yet.'

The man who survived mustard gas and pepperspray is now a seasoned veteran. When cannibals ate a missionary,they got a taste of religion.

Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safesects

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Visual Pun

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If a personspouts bad puns all day long, what should happen to him.

He should getCapital Pun...ishment!

A pun, orparonomasia, is a form of word play that deliberately exploits anambiguity between similar-sounding words for humorous orrhetorical effect. Such ambiguity may arise from the intentionalmisuse of homophonical, homographical, homonymic, polysemic,metonymic, or metaphorical language.

By definition, puns must be deliberate; an involuntarysubstitution of similar words is called a malapropism.

Samuel Johnson disparagingly referred to punning as "thelowest form of humour". Punning has been used by writerssuch as Alexander Pope, James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, WilliamShakespeare (who is estimated to have used over 3,000 puns in hisplays), John Donne, and Lewis Carroll. MORE HERE

"A good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellenciesof lively conversation."

**James Boswell**

"Hanging is too good for aman who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted."— Fred Allen

(Quoted: pun on "quartered", an old form of capitalpunishment.)

"Immanuel doesn't pun; heKant." — Oscar Wilde

(Kant: play on "can't", in the name of philosopherImmanuel Kant)

"A man sent a list of tenpuns to a friend, hoping at least one would make him laugh.

No pun in ten did.

(A play on the phrase no pun intended, used after somebodyunintentionally makes a pun.)

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The nation’s public school curriculum may be in for aTexas-sized overhaul, if the Lone Star state’sinfluential recommendations for changes to social studies,economics and history textbooks are fully ratified later thisspring. Last Friday, in a 10-to-5 vote split right down partylines, the Texas State Board of Education approved somecontroversial right-leaning alterations to what most studentsin the state—and by extension, in much of the rest ofthe country—will be studying as received historical andsocial-scientific wisdom. After a public comment period, theboard will vote on final recommendations in May.

Don McElroy, who leads the board’s powerful seven-membersocial conservative bloc, explained that the measure is a wayof "adding balance" in the classroom, since"academia is skewed too far to the left." And theboard's critics have labeled the move an attempt by political"extremists" to "promote their ideology."

The revised standards have far-reaching implications becauseTexas is a huge market leader in the school-textbookindustry. The enormous print run for Texas textbooks leavesmost districts in other states adopting the same coursematerials, so that the Texas School Board effectively spellsout requirements for 80 percent of the nation’s textbookmarket. That means, for instance, that schools inleft-leaning states like Oregon and Vermont could soon beteaching from textbooks that are short on references to TedKennedy but long on references to conservative activistPhyllis Schlafly.

Here are some of the other signal shifts that the Texas Boardendorsed last Friday: CLICK HERE

The above statement is so bizarre and chilling; it belongs in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!

Since when did truth become a left leaning object? These charlatans, who call themselves a School Boardof Education, embody anything but EDUCATION!

A dictionary defines EDUCATION as: the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectuallyfor mature life.

Is teaching misinformation, and omitting important historical events (and people) in order to achieve the indoctrination of our children to a one-sided political and religious perspective, a way to a more mature society?I think not but hey, Vladimir Putin is doing the same thing, with the ordering of a series of new "patriotic" textbooks of Russian history. (Read Below)

Critics are accusing President Vladimir Putin's government of a Soviet-style rewriting of Russian history with a series of new "patriotic" textbooksto be unveiled in the new school year.

New laws passed this summer have given the government sweeping powers over which textbooks will be used in schools. Teachers and other critics

have voiced concerns that this will allow the government to force the use of a single, approved book in each subject - essentially a return to Soviet practice.

Mr Putin has complained that the negative view of the Soviet past in current history textbooks is down to the fact that the authorsreceived foreign grants to write them.

Now, the Kremlin claims it wants to change that situation and a recommissioning of Russia's history textbooks is under way. A handbookfor teachers, on the basis of which a future textbook for students could be written, is called The Modern History of Russia, 1945-2006. Only one of the authors is a professional historian. The book calls Joseph Stalin a "contradictory" figure, and states that while some people consider him evil, others recognise him as a "hero" for his role in the Great Patriotic War (the Second World War) and his territorial expansion.

Jumping jehosaphat! It looks as though the Texas school board is emulating The Soviet Union! Those Commies! thinkingblue

Saturday, March 13, 2010

I wrote the following email to Chase Bank USA upon realizing they had upped my APR rate from 12.24% to 24.24% for NO reason except greed!

-----I just checked my account on line and I could not believe myeyes (I am sure you heard that before) ... You Bankstersraised my APR from 12.24percent (January 2010 statement)

to a whopping 24.24percent (February statement) ... WHY?

Why did you almost double the finance fee on my account?

Never mind, I know why!! It s not a punishment towards oneinsignificant customer (you remember those games you played,punishing anyone monetarily who missed a day, on theirpayment cycle or went over their credit limit), it is just atoken of your GREED. Well THANK YOU; I will not be using myChase credit card very often and if I do... I will not carrya balance. I know you do not give a hoot about what I thinkbecause I was able to pay my balance off. It’s yourother customers, (I’m sure you did not just pick on me)who are not so fortunate and have to pay the collusion,flimflam fees you are now charging, (whenever it TICKLES yourfancy) families who are struggling to make ends meet... Theyare the reason I am sending this email your way... Oh yes, Iknow you also do not give a rats patootie about them or myopinion? SO BE IT! But it is so sad, nevertheless!

Carolyn S

PS: Please contact me if I did not read the statementcorrectly? I noticed that January statement reads, FINANCECHARGES and February statement reads, INTEREST CHARGES? Isthere a difference or is it just another devious trick?

This is what I received back:

Dear Carolyn S:

Thank you for contacting Chase about the Annual PercentageRate (APR) for account ending in **.

As stated in your Cardmember Agreement, the terms associatedwith your account may be changed in accordance withapplicable law. We will notify you of the change in writing.

While reviewing your records, I found a change in termsnotice was sent to you on 11/24/09. At this time, I am unableto return your account to its previous terms.

The Card Act, which took effect in February 2010, requiresbanks to change certain terminology that has been used in thepast. The word "interest" is now required wording.

If you have any further questions, please reply using theSecure Message Center.

Thank you,

Paul BontiEmail Customer Service Representative1-800-436-7927

Account is owned by Chase Bank USA, N.A. and may beserviced by its affiliates.

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This was my finale reply:

"While reviewing your records, I found a change in termsnotice was sent to you on 11/24/09. At this time, I am unableto return your account to its previous terms."

-----In response to the above paragraph in the “formletter” (a standardized letter that can be sent to anynumber of persons, occasionally personalized by inserting thename of each recipient in the salutation.) you emailed me…

This is my reply:

At this time I am also” unable” to return to my"belief" that Chase, was a reasonable and fairbanking institution...

So THANKS FOR NOTHING! I will not be using my Chase creditcard very often and if I do... I will not carry a balance. Ihope you will enjoy getting your new 24.24%"INTEREST" (The word now used by Banksters,replacing the old abbreviated word “APR” AnnualPercentage Rate) on a big fat ZERO balance!

If you have any further questions, please reply using theSecure Message Center.

Thank you,

Carolyn SAn Extremely Disgruntled Chase Bank USA, Customer

Post Script:

In the past my family has paid thousands upon thousands of dollarsin interest fees. The credit card companies were able to getaway with so much using devious methods and tricks that thegovernment allotted them, by their “laissez-faire”financial attitude. (An economic doctrine that opposesgovernmental regulation of or interference in commerce beyondthe minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operateaccording to its own economic laws.)

Through the many years of raising 3 children, with both parents working, we were barely able to keep one foot in front of the other. Then when my husband’s company wanted to get rid of all theirolder workers they offered him a retirement package which hehad to take or risk not being able to find a position inanother state, within this National Company. Since we werestill carrying a debt balance and since the job he foundafter retirement was one forth the compensation of his oldone, we in our finale work years, could not make ends meet.We were forced to go bankrupt or lose our home.

All this happened almost ten years ago and had nothing to do withChase Bankster. We have since recovered our good creditstanding and our FICO score keeps rising.

This country has slowly slid into an uncaring and totally unequalculture. Largely because of the greed from those who governat the top. Everyone is complaining but for the most parttheir complaints are not directed at the ones who have causedthis downward trend. Too many people believe that it's thepoor not the rich who are responsible for this dilemma. Theyhave been indoctrinated by “Newspeak” or “Rovespeak” ballyhooed by some government officials, to direct their frustrations towards those who have the Least Voice. All of us, in the end, will lose ifthis downward spiral is not reversed. thinkingblue

Please sign this very important petition "demand questiontime" (of our political leaders) HERE...We really need more dialog from those at the top...The Republicans have got to be made to realize they can't hidebehind "NO" any longer! thinkingblue

Friday, March 12, 2010

Another study proving Doctors are over testing and over prescribing. NO SHIT!

These studies pop up now and then but nothing happens to change the nefarious doctoring methods here in the good ole US of A. Maybe for a short period but then it’s business as usual.

I remember a time when pediatricians’ handed out prescriptions for antibiotics to every child with a case of the sniffles. As a young mother I was led to believe that if I didn’t give my child this “miracle” drug they would surely die. My kids had this potion pumping through their veins at least 2 or 3 times a year. Then, sometime later, it was found that this over treating was causing the antibiotics not to be so ANTI anymore and bacterials were turning into HULKS, so it stopped! Nice, after I raised my kids on the stuff! I’m so cynical now, that I BELIEVE ‘NUTTIN HONEY’!

BTW, to you teabaggers bellowing "HANDS OFF MY HEALTHCARE!". What healthcare? Oh, you mean the one that uses your body as a guinea pig to increase “THEIR” wealth? thinkingblue

CHICAGO – Too much cancer screening, too many hearttests, too many cesarean sections. A spate of recent reportssuggest that too many Americans — maybe even PresidentBarack Obama — are being overtreated.

Is it doctors practicing defensive medicine? Or are patientsso accustomed to a culture of medical technology that theyinsist on extensive tests and treatments?

A combination of both is at work, but now new evidence andguidelines are recommending a step back and more thoroughdoctor-patient conversations about risks and benefits.

As a medical journal editorial said this week about Obama'srecent checkup, Americans including the commander in chiefneed to realize that "more care is not necessarilybetter care."

Obama's exam included prostate cancer screening and a virtualcolonoscopy. The PSA test for prostate cancer is notroutinely recommended for any age and colon screening is notroutinely recommended for patients younger than 50. Obama is48.MORE HERE

About Me

Yes, there are two Americas’ Virginia, they exist as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist. One tolerant and
free-thinking, the other intolerant and close-minded!
Sincerely, thinkingblue, from the TOLERANT AND FREE-THINKING USA
PS: Joe (You Lie) Wilson, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh et al reside in the intolerant America!